Chapter 49: Boom!

Even with my enhanced physical body, I was pushed back by the force of the explosion wave. However, I stood my ground, knowing that these few moments were critical for our survival.

"Let us help you," Captain Garz said as he and his men approached me from behind. They seemed to anticipate that they would be unable to use magic in this place and took out magic items from their storage bags. These downgraded versions of storage rings were provided to all soldiers in the army and could store one or two items each, which was sufficient for their needs.

With the soldiers' assistance, we managed to withstand the explosion wave, and our immediate danger was over.

"Fuh! We're safe now," Anna let out a relieved sigh after the ordeal was over.

"Anyway, what was that spell? I've never seen it before or read about it in any of the books available at school," I asked, curious about the unknown spell.

Everyone looked at me with puzzled expressions, their faces showing confusion and questioning.

"William, you don't know what spell it is?" Sarah asked, giving me a quizzical look.

"I don't," I admitted.

"Then how did you know we would be safe if we entered here?" Sarah inquired further.

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, replying, "Instinct."

"Huh!?" Anna had a big reaction to my answer, and everyone else seemed equally surprised. Even I couldn't explain the instinct I felt at that moment. During the crisis, my mind had suddenly become sharper, and my instincts stronger. Looking back now, my decision didn't seem rational at all. The usual me wouldn't have made that choice. But at that critical moment, I did, and it allowed us to escape danger.

Since I couldn't explain it myself, I left them with their unanswered questions and chose to ignore them.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk. Everyone has their own secrets," Sarah said, understanding my situation.

I nodded my head in gratitude for her understanding.

"Regarding that spell, I know about it, so I'll explain it to you," Sarah continued, taking the initiative to explain.

"That spell is called Vein Sproadic Spell. It's a level 8 spell. As the name implies, it utilizes the nature of mana veins in a particular location and combines it with magic to create a huge explosion. If it were just a normal level 8 spell, Garz wouldn't have panicked so much. With their experience, Garz and his men could have safely retreated when the explosion occurred. However, we were dealing with the Vein Sproadic Spell. This spell harnesses the mana vein it's attached to, and the higher the quality of that mana vein, the stronger the explosion. To make matters worse, this hidden vestige has a high-quality mana vein, which ensured the power of the explosion was not to be underestimated."

"Ah, I see," I nodded, understanding Sarah's explanation. Now I understood why everyone had panicked when the spell was activated.

"It's not as simple as you might think," Captain Garz interjected, providing additional information. "Even when combined with a high-grade mana vein, it wouldn't have scared me that much. The real problem is the location we're in right now. Normally, even with a high-grade mana vein, this spell would only produce a 1 km range of explosion. In that case, we would have to evacuate all the people in the vicinity since the spell usually takes about 3 minutes to activate.

"But right now, we're in the middle of the Thousands Tree Forest. You might not know this, but inside this forest, some spells have their effects varied from the normal. Vein Sproadic Spell is one of them. In the past, someone tried using this spell, and even though they used it with a common low-grade vein, the explosion radius increased ten times more than usual. Since then, experiments have been conducted, and all spell diagrams were tested to determine which spells are affected and which are not."

Based on Captain Garz and Sarah's explanations, I concluded that the spell's effect at that time was several times larger than normal. Due to the peculiar attributes present in this forest, the explosion might affect an area of more than 10 km radius from the point of explosion. No wonder even the experienced Captain Garz had been frightened by it.

Organizing my thoughts, I shifted my focus to Sarah and asked her, "What are you planning to do now? I may have provided a quick solution, but you must have realized that we're now trapped inside since the entrance is no longer there."

"We have no choice but to move forward now. Our numbers may have increased, but our objective remains the same," Sarah replied with determination. Ever since she had told me about this place, I could sense her desperation to reach it. Even in our current situation, she remained resolute. However, considering our minimal casualties, moving forward seemed like a good option. And if we were lucky, the key to our exit might be where Sarah was leading us.

Observing everyone's faces and noticing that no one opposed the idea, Sarah nodded and turned her gaze toward the darkness of the vestige.

"Then, let's go."